DRAMA

BBC2, 9pm

Louis XIV has been at war, but now he returns to his beloved Versailles with intent and purpose.

Played by George Blagden – master of the evil arched eyebrow – Louis decides to surprise everyone with his arrival. In other words, catch them misbehaving.

Indeed, all the women are being a bit frosty. Perhaps if they weren’t wearing those tight corsets they’d be a little less chippy with each other.

Madame de Montespan (Anna Brewster) is being quizzed about some debts – a new carriage, a locket, some wine and other luxuries totalling more than £100,000.

Fortunately for her, this is the moment Louis bursts in, ordering everyone but her to leave the room.

But her smugness doesn’t last long – Louis begins muttering about his vision for an empire, and how “someone” is blinding him to his true purpose. In other words, she’s dumped.

“I would be alone,” he declares, a bit harshly. He wants to purify his private life – but how long will his resolve last in the face of Montespan’s seductions?